Drawing and cutting machine for paper towels.



G. A. AICHER & S. LAZAR. DRAWING AND CUTTING MACHINE FOR PAPER TOWELS.

.0 m. w Y n 1 MAW A n m j L n m 1! E qmm W s m i m P a APPLICATION FILED JAN. 19. 1914.

G. A. AIGHER & S. LAZAH.

DRAWING AND CUTTING MACHINE FOR PAPER TOWELS.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 19.1914.

Patented Sept. 14, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

f /a/v. 5r

THE/l? Arrr' G. A. AICHER & S. LAZAR. DRAWING AND CUTTING MACHINE F08 PAPER TOWELS.

APPLICATION men m1. \9. m4.

' PatentedSept. 14, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHE 3.

39 Mime. J 14 lnveniora: GtoSahrM w; 7 er Mia oownu mum CO" WAINIW' D- I.

chine.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAV A. AICHER AND SOLOMON LAZAR,

OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGN- ORS TO NATIONAL PAPER PRODUCTS 00., OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, COR- PORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

DRAWING AND CUTTING MACHINE FOR PAPER TOWELS.

Application filed January 19, 1914. Serial No.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GUSTAV A. AIoHER and SOLOMON LAZAR, States, and residents of the city and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornla, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Drawing and Cutting Machinesfor Paper Towels, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improved means for drawing and cutting into equal lengths, interleaved paper towels which have been interleaved in the manner set forth. in the application for United States Letters Patent of Solomon Lazar, filed February 20th, 1913, Serial Number 749,731, wherein a series of parallel vertically disposed flights are adapted to engage the pile of interleaved paper towels and feed the same to a cutting device wherein a knife reciprocates at regular intervals and cuts the pile of towels into equal lengths, and the objects of our invention are first, to provide improved means controlled by the drawing means for the purpose of cutting the pile of towels into' equal lengths; fourth, to provide means for driving the flights continuously and the cutting device at regular intervals; fifth, to provide means for temporarily clamping and holding that portion of the pile. of towels bein cut; and sixth, to provide means for cutting against an open edge instead of against a wooden block as in the present state of the art. We accomplish these several features by' means of the device illustrated in the drawings forming a part of the present specification wherein like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout the said specification and drawings, and in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine partly broken away in order to disclose the manner in which the cutting device is controlled by the drawing portion of the ma- Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine disclosing the driving means and the Specification of Letters Patent.

citizens of the United to the lmife or cutting device.

Patented Sept. 14, 191 5.

siaeiii.

double tapes which are used for conveying the p1le= of towels from the drawing device Fig. 3 is a vertical sectlonal view taken on line row and disclosing the manner in which the flights are prevented from separating between the sprockets to which they are attached. Fig. 4 is an elevation'of the cutting end of the machine disclosing the reciprocating knife slidably mounted therein, and the connecting rod which connects the knife to the wrist pin. Fig. 5 is a broken sectional view of the cutting device control and operating means. Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line Y-Y of Fig. 5 in the direction indicated by the arrow;

In the process of folding interleaved paper towels the said towels are formed from long paper strips folded longitudinally by means of dies which interleave the said strips as they are folded, the said diesbeing substantially flat at one end and interleaved and folded at the other end. The folded paper strips are drawn through the dies from the folded end andthe present invention has to do with the drawingof the paper towels from the dies and cutting the said interleaved paper towels into equal lengths.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 is used to designate a suitable bed plate to which are rotatably secured the vertical shafts 2, 3, 4 and 5. To each of the said shafts is rigidly secured a suitable sprocket 6. An endless chain composed of vertically disposed flights 7 having pins 7 secured near the bottoms thereof, is engaged and driven by the sprockets 6 on the shafts 2 and 4, while a similar parallel chain of flights 8, having apertures 8 near the lower ends thereof, are similarly engaged and driven by means of the sprockets 6 on the shafts 3 and 5. The objects of the pins 7' and the apertures 8 will hereinafter be more fully described.

The shaft 2 is provided with a bevel gear 9 which meshes with and is rotated by means of the bevel pinion 10 secured to the drive shaft 11 which is in turn rotated by a sheave 12. The shaft 2is also provided with a spur gear 14; which engages and XX looking in the direction indicated by the ar- 1 drives a similar gear secured to the shaft 14 and 15 are secured, and consequently the I flights 7 and 8, travel at the same speed. The flights 7 and 8 are alined by means of the pins 7 which enter and engage the apertures 8'. Upper and lower tapes 16 surround and are operated by the flights 7 and 8 and pass over the rollers 17 near the cutting end of the machine and the rollers 18 which are secured to arms in turn pivotally secured to standards 19 near the other end of the machine, so that the said tapes 16 are kept in tension by means of the spring 20 which is secured to the arms of the said standards 19.

The cutting device is formed of the vertical portion 22 having an opening 23 there-- in for the passage of the pile oftowels P. A knife 24 is slidably mounted within suitable guideways 25 transversely to the pile of v towels P and is connected by means of the connecting rod 26 to a wrist pin 27 on a counter shaft 28. A sheave 29 is rotatably mounted upon one end of and disconnected from the shaft 28. The hub 30 of the sheave 29 is provided with a ring 31 havin internal notches 32. A latch 33 is plvotally secured within a suitable recess within the shaft 28 and is provided with a suitable spring adapted to extend the said latch 33 beyond the periphery of the shaft 28 and into one of the notches 32 of the ring 31.

-The latch 33 extends beyond the face of the ring 31 and is prevented from engaging one of the notches 32 therein, by'means of the disk 34 which engages that portion of the latch 33 which extends beyond the said ring 31. The disk 34 has a stem rotatably mounted within a suitable recess within the frame 1 of the machine, the said stem being provided with a series of annular collars 37 which serve as teeth which are engaged by the sector 38 secured to the upper portion of the shaft 39 rotatably mounted within the frame 1. The lower end of the shaft 39 is provided with an arm 40 which lies within the circular ath of a lug 41 secured to the upper face of a pinion 42. The pinion 42 is driven by means of the idler gear 43 which is in turn driven by the gear 15 on the shaft 3. I

The vertically disposed flights 7 and 8 are provided with horizontal seats 45 which .are engaged by the angles 46 secured to the frame 1 by means of the standards 47.

The sheaves 12 and 29-are driven from independent belts and at different speeds, the speed of the sheaves 29 being greatly in excess of the sheave 12. While the paper towels P are drawn slowly and continuously by the parallel endless chains, the knife 24 is operated at regular intervals and quickly passage of the towels P while being cut.

The knife 24 forms a shear with the open cutting edge 24" on one side of the openmg 23 lnstead of cutting the paper pile against a Woodenblock as in the present state of the art. In order to hold the pile of towels firmly and stationary while the knife 24 is cutting the same, we have provided the spring held clamps 50 which are slidably secured to both sldes of the said knife 24, the operation of the said clamps 50 being hereinafter more fully described.

The operation is as follows: The paper towels P are fed between the parallel'endless chains composed of the vertically disposed flights 7 and 8 and the tapes 16. As the shaft 2 is'rotated, the said rotation is lmparted to the shaft 3 by means of the gears 14 and 15. Consequently the flights 7 and 8 are moved together and tightly engage the towels P and draw the same from the folding machine and toward the knife 24, the said. flights being alined by the pins 7 and apertures 8'. It is necessary that the towels P shall be rigidly and tightly engaged by the flights 7 and 8 so that theinner folds of the towels P which are not in actual contact with the said flights 7 and 8 will not slip. The flights are prevented from separating between the sprockets and a rigid engagement of the towels P is maintained between the points where the said towels are engaged and released by the flights 7 and 8, by means of the angles 46 which engage the seats 45 of the said flights 7 and 8 and prevent them from separating between the gear 42, by means of the idler gear 43, and

causes the lug 41 to engage the arm 40 at regular interval s. As the arm 40 is engaged and moved inward by the'lug 41, it partially rotates the shaft 39 and the sector 38 secured to the upper end thereof. This causes the sector 38 to engage the collars or teeth 37 on the stem of the disk 34 and moves the said disk 34 a ainst the tension of the spring 36, beyond t e plane of the latch 33 pivotally secured to the knife drivin shaft 28.

As the disk 34 is withdrawn, the atch 33 is projected by means of a spring, into one of the notches 32 of the rapidly revolving ring 31 secured to the hub 30 of the sheave 29.

v until the lug This rotation causes a knife 24, secured to the wrist pin 27 of the shaft 28 by means of the connecting rod 26, to reciprocate and cut through the pile of paper towels P which the knife 24 causing the springs on the clamps to press the said clamps 50 firmly against the pile P and hold the same rigidly on either side of the stationary cutting edge 24 until the knife 24 advances and cuts through the pile P. After the pile has been cut the knife 24 recedes to a normal position before the said pile is released by the clamps 50. In this manner the movement of the said knife 24 is prevented from disarranging the continuously moving pile of towels. Before the sheave 29, and the ring 31 secured to the hub 30 of the said sheave, has made one complete revolution, the lug 41 has released the arm 40 and the tension of the spring 36 has returned the disk 34 within the path of the latch 33. When the latch 33 approaches the disk 34, the said disk engages the said latch -33- andreleases the same from the notch 32 of the ring 31 and retains the said latch within its recess 41 again engages the arm 40. While the knife 24 is cutting the paper it is evident that the progress of the said paper is momentarily arrested while the flights 7 and 8 continue to draw the paper from the folding machine. This will cause the paper to buckle slightly between the point 'where it is released from the flights 7 and 8 and the knife 24. As soon as the knife is with-e drawn however, the tension of the tapes 16 will straighten out the paper and feed the same through the opening 23.

It is obvious from the foregoing that we have provided improved means for drawing the interleaved paper strips continuously from a folding machine and cutting the same at regular intervals into equal lengths without arresting the progress of the paper. It is also obvious that the cutting mechanism may be driven independently of the drawing means, and yet be controlled by the latter. It is also obvious that we have provided means for rigidly and securely clamping the pile of-towels while being out without arresting the continuously moving ile from the folding machine.

The details of construction are so susceptible to variation, that we do not wish to confine ourselves to the precise construction shown herein, but rather to avail ourselves of any -modification which may fall properly within the scope of our invention.

ed to yield described our invention what Having thus and desire to secure by Letwe claim as new ters Patent .is--

1. In a machine for drawing and cutting interleaved paper towels, the combination of a suitable base plate; vertical shafts rotatably mounted upon the base plate and having'suitable sprockets secured to the upper ends and gears secured to the lower ends thereof; parallel endless chains composed of vertically disposed flights mounted upon the sprockets and having horizontal seats thereon and adapted to engage and vdraw a pile of interleaved paper towels from a folding machine; suitable angle irons secured to the base plate and adapted to engage the horizontal seats on the flights for the purpose of preventing the said flights from separating between the; sprockets; a knife slidably mounted upon one endof the base plate and transversely to the pile of towels; means for conveying the pile of towels the flights to the knife; means the knife and disconnected therefrom; suitable driving mechanism for'driving the gears on the lower ends of the vertical shafts continuously; and means driven by the said gears and adapted to connect the knife to the operating means therefor at regular intervals.

2. In a machine for drawing and cutting, a base plate, endless drawing members movable thereon and arranged to have parallel lengths between which the paper drawn engages, endless tapes encircling the drawing members and extending beyond the latter in the direction of movement thereof for delivering the paper drawn, rotatable supports over which the tapes pass arranged beyond the drawing members, and cutting means arranged for cutting, the drawn paper subsequent to leaving t e tapes;

3,111 a machine for drawing and cutting, a-base plate, endless members having parallel lengths between which the paper drawn passes, means for su' porting and continufrom for operating ously driving the endess members including a yieldably mounted supporting roller adaptto permit of the flexing of an endless member when the paper being drawn is momentarily stopped, and a cutter arranged to cut the paper when delivered from the endless members.

4. In a drawing and cutting machine, a base plate, endless members movably supported thereon and having parallel lengths between which the paper drawn passes, other endless members having parallel lengths extending beyond the parallel lengths of the first endless members, fixed elements arranged on the base plate to engage with and hold the parallel lengths members from flexing, supporting means for the second endless members including a yieldably mounted roller for each adapted of the first endless v to yield on buckling of the drawn paper between said second endless members to permit of the latter yielding, and a cutter mounted for operation on the paper when delivered from the second endless members.

5. In a drawing and cutting machine, a base plate, drawing means thereon, a cutter arranged to operate upon the paper drawn, a rotatable member for operating the cutter,

a rotary driving member having a notched portion, a latch carried by the cutter operv ating member and adapted for normally engaging the notched portion of the driving member to establish an operative connection therebetween, means for operating the draw witn i GUSTAV A. AICHER.

SOLOMON'LAZAR. Witnesses:

Gno. F. WnLLs, W B: Rnnzonnm 

